KALAMAZOO, MI -- Luis Resto has learned something in the past decade.
"To know Marshall is to love Marshall," Resto told us in March.
For much of the past decade the Royal Oak keyboardist/songwriter/producer has been "touring with Marshall Mathers, and that's been fun. Who would've thought I'd be in a live rap group seeing the world?"
Mathers also goes by the name Eminem. Resto works with hip-hop's most famous bad boy, but don't worry -- he assured us that he will have his classical/pop/jazz sensibilities polished for his Gilmore sets May 3-4.
The quiet piano and choir-like effects opening 2002 hit from "8 Mile," "Lose Yourself," that eases the listener into Eminem's dark story? That's from Resto.
He helped the song win an Oscar, and got demand for his sound from 50 Cent, The Game, and 2Pac. "What I brought to the hip hop scene was a certain classicism," he said. With synths and samples, "I can emulate an orchestra."
Resto grew up in Garden City, just south of Livonia, in a musical Puerto Rican family. Resto played keys in brother Mario's band, and learned jazz fusion and Latin sounds.
At 18, he joined Don Was' avant-funk group Was (Not Was), which took him into the '80s. After that he became an in-demand session player, backing diverse artists from Iggy Pop to Jay Z, Mel Torme to the Highwaymen.
Resto was doing a jazz gig with Dave McMurray in 2001 when the saxophonist offered a line on this rapper who needed a keyboardist.
He listened to Eminem, studied "My Name Is," and asked himself, "What's the point? What does this contribute to the universe?" Resto laughed. What bothered him were "the lyrics, no doubt." At the time, he had a toddler and a 10-year-old. "Pretty vulgar stuff, it was kinda conflicting."
But he took the job, and found "chemistry"on the road and in the studio with Eminem. "He's a really terrific guy to work with in the studio, and the most trustworthy cat that I've ever met in the biz, really," he said.
"And lyrically, I find the way he writes to be pretty exceptional." It's not sunshine and lollipops from Mathers, but Resto appreciates his style. "Now, when he's on the darker side, it will be a guilty pleasure for me." In his lyrics, "I can't believe he went there, but I can't believe the rhyme scheme he used to do it."
Resto went on to be Eminem's "songwriting foil." He composed music for the 2002 film "8 Mile," co-wrote "Lose Yourself," the movie's hit for Eminem that earned a Grammy and an Oscar, and he co-wrote the 2010 hit "Not Afraid." His music also went into the Detroit-boosting 2011 Chrysler commercial starring Eminem.
Around four years ago, "when Marshall was having a break during his recovery time," Resto went to work on his own eclectic sound.
He simply calls it "Resto music... More than three-chord rock, not really jazz. Just a lot of influences."
Lately, "my classical stuff has really reared its head." For the Gilmore he'll perform on piano, accordion, melodica and synthesizer. He'll be bringing violinist Camille Ameriguian-Musco. The violin, he realized, "was a real missing link" for him.
He'll also be with Herschel Boone (vocals), Pathe Jassi (vocals, bass, guitar), brother Mario Resto (drums, guitar), Paul Nowinski (bass) and Resto (keyboards).
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